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Puppy Potty Training Tips.

Many people don’t realize that potty training your dog doesn’t happen overnight. I have talked to people who are frantic because their puppy is a few months old and is still having accidents in the house. I hate to break it to you, but that will happen for a while. There are some Albert Einstein puppies that will pick it up faster than others but not a lot of dogs are going to be fully potty trained in two months. Many people are confused on how to go about even starting to housebreak their pet, so here are a few pointers to help you out.

The first tip in housebreaking is all about rewarding the good and ignoring the bad. So what do you do when you see your pet urinating on your brand new shoes? Despite how much you want to yell at your puppy, remind yourself that a puppy is like a little baby that doesn’t know right from wrong yet, and as hard as it will be, ignore it.

Pick up the puppy right away and take him outside, let him do his business and bring it back into the house. If your puppy does go when you are outside, make a big deal about it. Your pet needs to know that while it is not play time when you are outside if he goes to the bathroom you are so proud of him.

You may have heard when a dog goes to the bathroom in the house you are supposed to yell at him and rub his nose in it. First of all, that is just gross if you rub your pet’s face in their own waste. Second, you have just messed up your chance at housebreaking because not only will your pet still go to the bathroom in the house it won’t go in front of you and that ruins your chance at correcting this action appropriately. A helpful hint is make sure you clean wherever your pet goes really well because if you don’t, that spot will most likely be revisited. Eventually with consistency your pet will realize that it has to relieve himself outside.

You might see him sitting by the door and when that, happens make a big deal about him sitting by the door and an even bigger deal when he goes outside.

The second tip I have up my sleeve is crate training. The proper way to do this is to buy a crate that your pet can stand up in, turn around in, and is able to stretch out when it is lying down. The reason for this is you want your dog to have enough room but you don’t want him to have too much. Dogs don’t want to go to the bathroom where they sleep, so if the crate is too big they will go to the bathroom in one corner and then lay in another spot.

If the crate is the right size, then if they relieve themselves in the crate they will have to lay in it and they don’t want to do that. By crate training them this does three things, allows them to build up the time where they can hold their bladder and bowels, it lets them practice not going in the house, and it helps you to make sure your puppy doesn’t get in to something he shouldn’t while he is not being monitored.

You shouldn’t just leave your puppy in the crate right away for 8 hours; you have to build up to that time. So if you are someone that can’t let your puppy out during the day for a while then maybe crate training isn’t for you.

My third and final tip is going to be short and sweet. After your pet has taken a nap, ate something, or played, make sure you take them outside right away. After these activities puppies will almost always have to go. This works to your benefit because they can practice good behavior by going to the bathroom in the right spot. Besides they say practice makes perfect.

These are a few tips to help you potty train successfully. Remember the main thing to help you achieve your goal is consistency. It is so important to get a routine down and keep it the same. Your puppy will eventually pick up on the routine and realize they have to do their business outside not inside. You can’t reason with a dog, though many people try. Consistency, crate training, and rewarding the good but ignoring the bad are all tips to make sure your pet doesn’t make your house his oval office!